Homard à la Parisienne

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •18-inch fish poacher with insert or 16-quart stockpot
• •Two long stainless-steel skewers and 100% cotton kitchen twine
• •Deep rimmed roasting pan for cooling the lobster in court-bouillon
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Sturdy kitchen shears and lobster crackers
• •Fine-mesh sieve and damp muslin or coffee filter
• •Small plain cutter or wide piping tip, about 2 cm
• •Chilled rimmed sheet pan
• •Shallow dish for setting the aspic cubes
• •Large oval serving platter, at least 20 inches long

Instructions

1. 1

   Set the clear aspic

   Reserve ½ cup of the cold fish stock and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over it. Leave it for 5 minutes to bloom. Bring the remaining stock to a gentle simmer and reduce it from 3½ cups to about 3 cups, concentrating the foundation without making it salty. Pass it through a damp coffee filter or several layers of damp muslin without pressing. Off the heat, whisk in the bloomed gelatin until completely dissolved, then taste and add a little of the seasoning salt if needed. Never boil the gelatin. Pour 1¼ cups into a shallow dish to a depth of about 1.5 cm for the final cubes, and chill it with the remaining aspic until firm, at least 2 hours.

   Clarity matters because every bubble and fleck will show in the border. Strain gently, and never squeeze the filter.
2. 2

   Make the court-bouillon

   Combine the water, wine, ½ cup vinegar, sliced onions, carrots, celery, bouquet garni, peppercorns, and 3 tablespoons salt in a fish poacher or stockpot large enough to hold the lobster straight. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes so the vegetables and aromatics season the liquid. Meanwhile, secure the dispatched lobster belly-down to the poacher insert with cotton twine, or brace the fully extended tail between two long stainless-steel skewers. The old board existed to prevent the tail curling; the rack and skewers perform the same honest work.

3. 3

   Poach the lobster

   Lower the lobster into the court-bouillon and bring the liquid back only to a bare simmer. Cover and poach for 18 to 22 minutes, beginning to check early. Insert an instant-read thermometer through the soft underside into the thickest part of the tail. Take the pot off the heat at 60°C, then leave the lobster submerged until it reaches 63°C. A hard boil tightens the flesh, while the gentle poach keeps the tail supple enough to remove whole.

4. 4

   Cool it in liquor

   Transfer the lobster on its insert to a deep roasting pan and strain enough court-bouillon around it to cover or nearly cover. Set the roasting pan into an ice bath, with the ice outside the pan rather than in the liquor, and turn the lobster once as it cools. Refrigerate it in the court-bouillon until both shell and flesh are thoroughly cold, at or below 4°C, completing the cooling within 2 hours. Cooling in its liquor is part of the dish because it protects the meat from drying; the ice bath is the home equivalent of the cold garde-manger bench.

5. 5

   Prepare the macédoine

   Lower the eggs into simmering water and cook for 9 minutes, then chill, peel, and quarter them lengthwise. In the same saucepan of fresh salted water, cook the potato dice until just tender, about 4 minutes; add the carrot for the final 3 minutes, then the haricots verts and peas for the final 90 seconds. Drain the macédoine, the small even vegetable dice, and spread it on a clean cloth-lined tray. Chill it until completely cold and dry. Wet vegetables thin the mayonnaise and make the artichoke pyramids slump.

6. 6

   Open the cold lobster

   Drain and dry the cold lobster. Remove the twine or skewers. With sturdy kitchen shears, make two parallel cuts about 2.5 cm apart down the center of the back, beginning behind the head and continuing through the tail shell to the fan. Lift out the resulting strip in one piece. Ease the tail meat out whole, fill the empty tail with some of the lettuce cut julienne-fashion, then replace the shell strip upside down to form a shallow support for the collops. Crack the claws and knuckles, remove their meat with any sound meat from the carapace, and cut it into small dice. If local shellfish guidance permits eating the creamy coral or tomalley, press up to 2 tablespoons through a fine sieve; otherwise omit it. Keep everything cold.

7. 7

   Bind the lobster salad

   Whisk the pasteurized yolk with the Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon vinegar, half the remaining seasoning salt, and the white pepper. Add the neutral oil first drop by drop, then in a fine thread, whisking until the mayonnaise is thick and glossy. If it splits, don't discard it. Ça se rattrape: place a teaspoon of cold water in a clean bowl and whisk in the broken mayonnaise one spoonful at a time. Gently melt about ⅓ cup of the aspic, cool it until fluid but no longer warm, then whisk it gradually into the mayonnaise with the sieved creamy parts, if using. Fold in the cold macédoine and diced lobster meat. Set the bowl over ice until the salad begins to hold a mound. If it firms too quickly, stir it briefly over barely warm water until supple again.

8. 8

   Glaze the collops

   Cut the tail crosswise into 10 to 12 even collops, keeping their natural progression from the small tapered end to the broad end. Arrange them on a chilled sheet pan and blot the surfaces dry. Cut 10 to 12 thin truffle roundels with a small plain cutter or the wide end of a piping tip, reserving the trimmings. Melt about 1 cup of aspic over barely warm water and cool it until it flows like light oil. Dip each truffle roundel in the half-melted aspic and center it on a collop. Spoon over a thin coat, chill for 3 minutes, then repeat until each slice has a smooth, clear casing. If the aspic slides off, it or the lobster is too warm. Blot the collops, chill them for 5 minutes, and try again with cooler aspic. Ça se rattrape.

9. 9

   Fill the artichokes

   Stand the thoroughly dried artichoke bottoms on a chilled tray. Divide the lobster salad among them, shaping each portion into a compact pyramid with two teaspoons. Set a small piece of reserved truffle on every peak and spoon over a fine coat of fluid, cool aspic for gloss. Chill until set. The salad must mound rather than spread; if it softens while you work, return it to the cold for 5 minutes.

10. 10

    Build the bread plinth

    Cut the half loaf into a long wedge, low at the tail end and high beneath the head, so the lobster will rest at roughly a 45° angle. Trim it to fit the platter, coat it thinly with the softened butter, and press most of the remaining lettuce julienne into the butter. Place the wedge on a chilled oval platter and settle the lobster shell over it, head raised. Use two hidden wooden picks if it needs securing. Cooking well is not cooking fancy; the bread is structural, edible, and far kinder to one cook than carved rice.

11. 11

    Dress the platter

    Lay the glazed collops in a slightly overlapping line along the lobster's back, beginning behind the head with the smallest and increasing toward the tail. Alternate the twelve filled artichoke bottoms with twelve egg quarters around the lobster, keeping the yolks facing outward. Unmold the reserved firm aspic and cut it into generous cubes or triangles, then border the platter with them and tuck in only enough remaining lettuce to conceal the bread. Keep the platter chilled until serving and leave it at room temperature for no more than 2 hours. Carry it whole to the table, then serve each guest lobster, an artichoke bottom, egg, lettuce, and clear jelly. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Order one lively hard-shell lobster of the full weight specified. A pair of small lobsters gives plenty of meat but loses the single commanding shell that makes Homard à la Parisienne what it is.
• •Ask the fishmonger to dispatch the lobster immediately before you take it home, keep it very cold, and cook it at once. If you must dispatch it yourself, chill it until insensible and use a single decisive cut through the cross on the head before securing the tail straight.
• •A preserved whole black truffle is the honest classical-pantry answer when fresh truffle isn't in season. Dry it well before slicing. Truffle oil cannot supply the roundels or the quiet earthy bite under the aspic.
• •Jarred or canned whole artichoke bottoms are entirely proper here and save hours of brigade labor. Rinse away the preserving liquid, then dry them thoroughly so the lobster salad grips rather than slides.
• •The source preparation uses the lobster's creamy parts after passing them through a sieve. Keep coral or tomalley only where local shellfish guidance permits; omitting it is a safety adjustment, and the aspic mayonnaise will still set correctly.
• •Serve with Brut Champagne or a mineral Chablis, both cold enough to meet the aspic cleanly. The platter already carries truffle, egg, mayonnaise, and lobster, so the wine should sharpen the appetite rather than add sweetness.

Advance Preparation

• •The fish aspic can be made up to 2 days ahead, covered once firm, and refrigerated. Melt only the amount needed for each task over barely warm water.
• •The eggs and macédoine can be cooked 1 day ahead. Keep them separately covered and cold, with the vegetables spread on a cloth first so no excess water follows them into the mayonnaise.
• •The lobster is best poached, cooled, dressed, and served on the same day. The completed platter may be assembled up to 2 hours before serving, loosely covered and refrigerated.
• •Refrigerate any leftovers promptly and eat them within 1 day. Aspic and mayonnaise soften with repeated warming, so this is a platter to finish generously at the celebration table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 595g)